1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical connectors, and in one particular aspect to a terminal useful at cross connect or serving area exchange points in communications systems, and more particularly to an improved cap for the terminals which cap affords connection of two wires at the terminal. Apparatus for making such connections typically includes terminals for 25 pairs of wires, arranged compactly in an array of rows and columns on a terminal block, for example as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,210,378 and 4,431,247.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The existing terminal blocks as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,247 serve to make a wire insulation displacement connection with the wire upon the twisting motion applied to the cap. The conductor to be connected extends through aligned holes in the cap and through an opening in a concentrically arranged stationary contact element which opening leads to an open mouthed wire receiving slot affording an insulation displacement connection (IDC) with the wire of the conductor. The opposite side of the contact has a second opening through which the conductor extends which is initially aligned with a companion second opening in the cap. Turning the cap to make the wire connection forces the wire against the edges of the second opening resulting in the conductor being severed simultaneously with the wire connection or termination being made.
This terminal afforded the rapid connection of service lines to the block which is in turn connected to the trunk line cable by lines joined to the base of the terminal block. However when there is a need to connect a second jumper wire to a terminal, this terminal was not suitable. It has thus been found that the cap can be modified to accept two wires of the same gauge, either 22 or 24 gauge. Two other solutions to this problem have been provided to the field such that two lines could be connected to a single terminal. These solutions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,363 and application Ser. No. 132,214, filed Dec. 14, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,988. Two distinct uses were discovered for the improved devices of these prior patents, as they allowed a single wire to be fed through the terminal and connected to the terminal for maintaining a temporary connection to an old terminal while attaching the lines to a new terminal. Then, the extended end of the conductor placed through the cap in the terminal for the temporary connection to the older telephone number assignment was easily removed without another interruption in service to the new number.
Secondly, when making telephone extensions off-premises, a permanent connection featuring one wire will allow connection of the same phone number to two separate structures, such as a house and a garage or other outbuilding, or to an office and a laboratory within a single building. However, these devices required the feeding of the lengths of wire through the terminal to make the connection to the new terminal which was time consuming.
The present invention provides for the easy feeding of two wires into the contact of the terminal and connection of both wires in the same slot of the contact element. When it is desired to disconnect one of the wires it is simply removed from the terminal. This is afforded by the modification of the cap of the terminal to afford the feeding of two wires into the wire receiving slot of a bifurcated contact element. To assure the proper feeding of the wires into the slot without having one of them cut by the element, to make the feeding of the wires into the cap as easily as possible when the entrance opening is generally not clearly visible, and to provide a passageway through the terminal for the wires, and yet allow access through the top of the cap to a test tab positioned below the pair of wires, the opening into the cap must be modified. Such modification required a design which would afford the sequential feeding of the wires into the element and an opening larger than the pair of wires to make the original entry of the wires into the opening and passageway as convenient as possible.